The 20-year-old Phillipsburg man testified this afternoon during a preliminary hearing for Ahmed Gospodev before District Judge Joseph Barner on assault charges. Gospodev sat through the proceedings with a few family members and a Bulgarian translator who traveled from Baltimore for the hearing.

Only Feliciano testified before District Judge Joseph Barner ruled that there was enough of a case to proceed to Northampton County Court.

Feliciano told of an encounter with Gospodev on Oct. 14 while he and a friend went to Wal-Mart to buy a new car battery. Feliciano was a passenger in the vehicle when Gospodev allegedly cut their car off near the entrance to the Lower Nazareth Township store.

Feliciano admitted that his friend parked their car near to where Gospodev parked -- only three spots away when there were plenty of other spaces open at the time.

The Phillipsburg man testified Gospodev was rummaging through his own trunk and appeared to be preparing to bring tires into the store by the time he and his friend were leaving their car. Suddenly, Feliciano said, Gospodev approached them.

"He started coming at us with a hammer," Feliciano said.

Feliciano said his friend and Gospodev exchanged a few words before Feliciano's buddy decided to leave.

"He said, 'We're not going to fight a guy with a hammer,'" Feliciano testified.

Gospodev then came at the Phillipsburg man, according to testimony, getting in his face and demanding to know his age.

"He kept asking me for my age," Feliciano said. "I think he thought I was a minor. Maybe he didn't want to hit a minor."

When Gospodev shoved Feliciano, the 20-year-old struck back -- punching Gospodev in the face, according to court testimony. That's when the victim said Gospodev came down with a hammer on Feliciano's head.

Bloodied, Feliciano said he moved away from the encounter and his friend stepped in, deflecting another attempted hammer blow and disarming Gospodev. Feliciano's friend grabbed hold of Gospodev, according to testimony, and held him while Feliciano threw three to four more punches at the defendant's ribs.

After the fight broke up, witnesses came to Feliciano's aid, he said, offering him tissues to stop the flowing blood. The Phillipsburg man was treated at a local hospital and received three staples to his head for the wound, he said in court.

Gospodev was charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, harassment, disorderly conduct and possessing an instrument of crime for the alleged attack. His attorney, John Karoly III, provided no argument in the case after cross-examining Feliciano.

Unless Gospodev reaches a deal with the Northampton County District Attorney's Office, the case will proceed to trial. Gospodev is free on $30,000 bail.